Straight Hair
by MissRainicorn
Summary: On Saturday morning, she decided to ask Rapunzel for a favor. A favor she wouldn't normally ask for. Which definitely has nothing to do with a certain someone coming back home after four years. Nope. Nothing at all.


_**Hey everyone! I know, I know - I'm a piece of crap author. I publish tons of stuff and then disappear for months with no explanation whatsoever. Well, second year at uni is being kinda hard on me and I hardly have the time to do the stuff I like - so I've been lacking inspiration for writing anything recently. I do have a lot of drafts for new fanfics, but they'll just have to sit and wait until I do feel like I can finish them. I want to apologize for the hiatuses, because I really would like to bring up new content...**_

_**But meanwhile, you can have this oneshot. It had been sitting in my folder for a long, long time, and I took a little time to finish it today, since I was nearly done with it anyway. It's a modern AU, in case that weren't clear!**_

_**And, as a side note, I want to thank everyone as always - all of you who follow/favorited me or anything I have written. It does mean a lot and I'm very thankful for it. I love seeing new notifications, it's day-brightening at its finest. So yeah, thank you. And I hope you find this enjoyable!**_

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><p>On Saturday morning, she decided to ask Rapunzel for a favor.<p>

"Straightening it?" Rapunzel's eyes opened widely in surprise, while Merida slightly blushed and nodded.

"Yes. Can ye do that for me?"

Rapunzel was left speechless, and it was understandable. It was _so_ weird of her to be asking for something like that, and Merida was perfectly aware of it. She just... she didn't even know why she was asking on the first place. It seemed a stupid thing to do, and yet...

To be honest, her curls were always getting on the way. Her mane of ginger hair always made people look at her in odd ways, and sometimes even snicker when she passed. It never really affected her, though it _did_ annoy her to unlimited extremes, and she always shot killer glares at those who dared to do that. However, that day, she was _particularly_ bothered by the fact her curls were constantly getting in the way of her vision and that, when she ran her fingers through them, they'd get _stuck_. And so, there she was.

"You want me to _straighten_ your hair" Rapunzel repeated, just to make sure she wasn't dreaming. "W-wow, Meri, I... I mean, I don't mind doing it for you, but... _wow_."

"Yeah, yeah" the redhead muttered through gritted teeth. "Can ye just... _do it_, please?"

"Are you _completely_ sure?" Merida nodded firmly. "But you can't complain" she warned. Merida nodded again. "And you have to stay still" Merida rolled her eyes, but once again nodded. "Wow. Are you _absolutely _sure?"

"Just get through with it already, dammit!"

Saying it was a long and painful process falls short to describe the horrors she was put through. The pain in her scalp from all the tugs and the brushing lasted for several hours after they were finished. And the _heat_. It couldn't possibly have been hotter if the very Satan was inside that bathroom. One should _never_ straighten hair in the middle of summer, unless they wanted to die of a heatstroke.

"I'm sorry!" Rapunzel apologized everytime she had to pull the brush through her hair to undo a particularly big knot, but Merida, faithful to her word, contained her moans and groans of pain and didn't complain the slightest bit. "This would be easier if you brushed your hair from time to time yourself, you know" the redhead rolled her eyes at this, but said nothing.

She decided to close her eyes. Maybe that way she'd fall asleep and be able to ignore the pain and the heat and _everything_.

Well, perhaps she was exaggerating. But only a little, tiny bit.

The suffering lasted for hours. Ages, on Merida's perspective. But it was bound to end, of course.

"All done!" the long-awaited words finally came out of Rapunzel's mouth. She crossed her arms, looking quite satisfied at the job she'd done, and the redhead opened her eyes.

Merida looked in the mirror, her surprised blue eyes looking back at her. She touched her hair with one hand, as if she didn't believe what she saw. It was _amazing_. Her tangled mass of red curls had been reduced to a well-combed, soft and perfectly straight ginger mane. When she put a lock of hair behind her ear, it stood there, in place. She marveled at the ease with which it was tamed.

"Well, what do you think?" Rapunzel asked, smiling at her reflection. Her friend was pretty much speechless.

Overall, it sure looked weird. It felt so strange to see herself without the curls everywhere, taking up almost all of her sight, that she almost found herself missing them. She shook her head and smiled. She thought she looked good. "What do _ye_ think?" she asked Rapunzel, just to confirm.

"I think you look gorgeous, even though you already were."

"Ah... kinda like it" the redhead chuckled, turning around to see how her hair was so long it reached the end of her back. "Even though it looks kinda weird..."

"You look beautiful" Rapunzel firmly replied, and with a mischievous smile, added: "I'm sure Hiccup will be very surprised."

"Ah didnae do it because of him, if that's what yoo're insinuatin'!" Merida protested, but she couldn't contain the red on her cheeks. Rapunzel's smile became wider.

"I said no such thing" she cooed, mindlessly picking up the brushes and the hair straightener. Merida muttered a few badly improvised excuses before leaving the bathroom in a rush.

What, changing her hair because of Hiccup? _For _Hiccup? Ha! As if she'd do something like that!... Right? She let out a big sigh, reminding herself that Rapunzel was just like that, always teasing her about Hiccup, and it reassured her to think it was all inside the blonde's wild romantic imagination.

Right, Hiccup. Their friend, a part of their unlikely group of four, who had gone abroad for four years to get his degree in engineering. It didn't surprise any of them when he got a scholarship to a famous university, since he'd always had great grades, and Rapunzel, Jack and Merida had encouraged him to go, though it saddened them that they had to be separated for four years.

They still talked over group calls through the computer, but of course it wasn't the same, especially when most of the time they couldn't or didn't want to turn on the videochat option (they'd eventually given up on that and stuck to voice calling). So it had been _forever_ since they'd last seen each other.

When Hiccup called them to say he was moving back to their city, their cheering could be heard in the whole neighbourhood. He said he'd host a sort of 'party' on Saturday, to celebrate his new apartment and finally reunite the four of them again.

And there she was. Straightened hair, outfit picked, and ready to spend her day doing something unproductive until it was time to go.

That evening, Jack and Punzie came to pick her up. She had gathered some very unhealthy snacks and a couple of board games, and in the car, she put them together with the other _abundant_ supplies Rapunzel and Jack had gathered. Skimming through the food and drinks, she found a bottle of what she identified as vodka in a box beneath the passenger's seat, and she groaned. "Jack, ye know Ah _hate_ vodka."

"Yes" the smirk he gave her from the driver's seat was unnerving, and it made Merida certain he had picked it for the exact purpose of annoying her. "I do."

"Ye ass..." she began, ready to throw her usual trail of insults at him, but Rapunzel quickly interrupted her.

"Come on, don't fight. Jack brought your ale."

"That so?" she asked, glaring at Jack in distrust. He shrugged.

"Yeah, I did bring your _beloved_ ale, though I don't know what it is you like _so _much about it. Punz didn't want me to, though."

The blonde blushed in embarrassment when Merida looked at her, arching one of her ginger eyebrows.

"You know I don't like it when you drink too much, Meri."

"It's fine, Punzie" she sighed, slouching in the back seat and smiling to reassure her friend. "Ah won't drink a lot today."

"Yeah, you shouldn't, we don't want to scare Hiccup off into going abroad again" Jack jested, making Merida stick her tongue out at him.

"I don't like it when _you_ drink, either" Rapunzel frowned at him with a severe gaze.

"Oh, come on, Punz. It's just one night. For the fun" he smiled apologetically, which didn't seem to soothe her at all.

"Fine. But don't expect any kisses from me" she crossed her arms and fixed her gaze in some point in the road in front of her. "You taste _awful_ when you drink."

"But Puuuunz -"

"Don't _but_ me!"

Merida snickered as silently as she could, and shared a exchange of looks with Jack through the rearview mirror: hers, of mockery; his, a silent cry for help. She shrugged and made a gesture to wash her hands off the situation, and he frowned in a silent promise of payback.

When they finally reached Hiccup's apartment, gathered the stuff they'd brought and rang the doorbell, they had a lot of difficulties to get up the stairs with their hands full. Miraculously, they managed to get to the third floor where he lived, and where someone was waiting on the door.

They were obviously expecting to find Hiccup, but he didn't look like they expected him to, _at all_.

Their jaws dropped, and the stuff they carried almost dropped down as well.

"Wha – Hiccup!?" Jack exclaimed, unable to identify his friend into that person.

"Who else?" the young man seemed amused at their evident shock.

"It _is_ you!" Rapunzel gasped, still unable to believe her eyes. "You're so...!" she stopped herself mid sentence so her eyes could run from his head down to his feet in a split second, and then cleared her throat. "_... Different_" by the way she said it, _different_ wasn't exactly the word she'd wanted to say. Merida could see why.

She was too astonished to say a word, as she couldn't recognize Hiccup into the man standing before them at all. The shy, goofy, nerdy, scrawny boy she'd known was nowhere to be found. In his stead, there stood an equally scrawny, but grown tall man. He was taller, of course; his hair was a little shorter than she remembered, and styled differently, and... was that the shade of an incipient beard? He must've shaved recently. But the fact that struck her the most was, he was_ handsome_.

Not only handsome, but a _hot piece of ass_. When did this happen!?

She recalled herself thinking of Hiccup as cute. That was the adjective that most suited him. His round face, sweet temper and goofy smiles deserved no less. But _cute_ fell short now. And she didn't know how to react to that. She certainly wasn't prepared to face this.

And, by the looks on their faces, Rapunzel and Jack weren't, either.

Hiccup, subjected to the bewildered scrutiny of three people at once, laughed nervously. "What's so surprising? It's been four years, you know?"

"Of course! It's just so..." once again, Rapunzel stopped herself mid-sentence. "_Unexpected_."

Jack was too busy to notice his girlfriend openly checking out his best friend, since he still had to pick up his jaw off the floor.

"Do you plan on standing there all night?" Hiccup smiled. "Here, I'll help you bring those in. Come on!"

They recovered enough from the shock to be able to walk and bring the stuff inside the apartment. It wasn't big, of course, as Hiccup didn't have a job yet, but like he said, it was more than enough for just himself.

There were still unpacked boxes laying around here and there, but the apartment was mostly ready for settling in. The most important part of it right now, the living room, was completely ready to host a nice gaming and movie night. Rapunzel offered to set the table and prepare the snacks, and Merida rushed to help her, as the last thing she wanted was to make small talk with Hiccup. She was still too flustered by his unexpected change; for some reason, it made her terribly _nervous_.

"So, Hiccup, do you mind telling me your secret?" Jack asked while they unpacked the games and movies.

"What do you mean, 'secret'?"

"Dude, have you _checked yourself out _lately?" Jack gazed at him from head to toe, and shook his head. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed how you've become a hot piece of ass?"

"I'm flattered you think so, Jack" he laughed. "But it's just... puberty, I suppose?"

"He sure is a late bloomer" Rapunzel whispered to Merida while unpacking the drinks and food they'd brought. "But _gosh_ hasn't he bloomed nicely."

"Punzie!" Merida protested,half-laughing, half-frowning, while trying her best to hide the blush on her cheeks.

"What? Don't lie and tell me you haven't checked him out too" the blonde smiled with a wiggle of her perfectly lined brown eyebrows. Merida mumbled something unintelligible and pretended to focus on the snacks. It wasn't common for Rapunzel to be the one embarrassing _her_, but the blonde had always been very straightforward, be it with things she didn't like... or things she _liked_.

"Can Ah remind ye that ye happen to have a boyfriend?" Merida whispered back at her, in an attempt to dissuade any future comments on Hiccup's newfound _fine-ness_.

"Yeah, a boyfriend that happens to be checking his best friend out _himself_" her friend snorted. "I bet he's rethinking his sexuality right now."

"Yoo're gonnae have to try harder, then" the redhead smirked. "Maybe he'll leave ye for him?" she suggested, pouring herself a drink.

Rapunzel curved her lips in a puckish smile. "He wouldn't. He's too scared of how gay sexy-time works."

Merida laughed so hard she spit the drink she'd just taken – through her _nose_.

After cleaning up that mess, they sat down on the sofas and, after eating profusely and catching up on the time they'd lost together, Merida was feeling a lot more reassured around Hiccup. She had been struggling to convince herself that there was nothing _abnormal_ about what she was feeling. It was only normal she'd be surprised and nervous after not being around him for so long, and after him having become so... _attractive_. It was nothing more than normal, she firmly repeated, normal normal normal. So she could relax.

Hiccup had enough tact not to ask about the hair, but Merida noticed him glancing at it from time to time, which was kind of unnerving. She shook the feeling off by pouring herself a drink – an _alcoholic_ drink, that is – and loudly asking if anybody else wanted some, which they did, Rapunzel and her peach juice being the only exception. Merida wasn't sure whether getting drunk precisely _tonight_ was a good idea. Not when she was so confused, so uncomfortably nervous and not sure whether she could keep her feelings at bay - and not when Hiccup had grown _hot_ out of nowhere, as if just to make things worse.

And _especially_ not when she could see the mischief written in Jack's eyes. She frowned at him with suspicion, then shook her head and downed her first glass of ale.

Still, his smirk was irritating and didn't anticipate anything good.

"So, Hic" he began, swirling around the ice inside his glass of vodka, which Rapunzel was glaring at disapprovingly. "Time for the uncomfortable questions."

"Oh, I'm really not sure I want to get to this part of the conversation..." Hiccup rolled his eyes, and Merida could tell he was already embarrassed – in spite of the questions not having even started yet. She fidgeted in her seat, took a large sip of her second drink. Ale was nagging at the corners of her brain, insisting that making Hiccup uncomfortable would report her an unreasonable amount of fun – while the sober part of her was sure it'd make _her_ uncomfortable, too.

"Sure you do" Jack dismissed any possible objection with a gesture of his hand. "So, enlighten us. How many girls have you scored with?"

"_Oh for f –_" Hiccup rubbed his forehead with his first two fingers, sighing deeply. "I'm already _so done_ with this conversation. Can we switch the topic?"

"No way! You're not getting off the hook" Rapunzel protested. "Though I wouldn't have phrased the question that way, I'm curious too."

"Spill it, Haddock" Jack pushed a glass of vodka towards him. Merida raised an eyebrow. The very few times Hiccup had drank alcohol at all hadn't ended exactly well.

He responded with another long, deep sigh, but still took the glass and downed it in one shot. The redhead couldn't help but to be impressed (he _was_ probably going to need that if he had to answer Jack's questions), though worried, considering his low tolerance to alcohol.

Hiccup coughed, vodka burning his throat. "Okay, okay" he said, once he was able to speak. "There was this one girl, I met her on second year... her name was Astrid."

So _there had_ been one. Merida cursed the pricking inside her chest – she should've guessed. She should've guessed, it was perfectly normal, and she shouldn't be jealous at _all_. She didn't let it show. She didn't comment. She simply took another sip of the ale and listened.

"Come on, just one?" Jack laughed. "I'm not buying that."

"I'm serious! It's not like I was planning on sleeping with the entire female population at campus..."

"Quite the contrary, I should think the entire female population on campus was planning to sleep with _you_" his white-haired friend smirked. This made Hiccup blush, and Merida curse herself _yet again _for thinking he was cute.

She still laughed at Jack's jesting, though, and couldn't help to bust in a little – just to snoop around in Hiccup's love life. "It's hard to believe, tho, Hic... only one girl, in four years? Are ye savin' for marriage or somethin'?"

"Leave it alone, you two!" Rapunzel intervened. "Even if he _were_, there's nothing bad about that. How was she, Hic?" she asked, her eyes filled with curiosity. "Was she nice?"

"Well, sure – I mean, we didn't get along at first... She wasn't really interested in the degree, you know. She was there because her parents wanted her to, while I was – well, really passionate about it. So we had many, uhm... disagreements."

"Then how come you ended up _doing the do_ with her?"

"Jack!" the blonde scoffed. "Be nice!"

"What? I was!"

"Ah... it's a long story, really" Hiccup tried to escape, but the interested gazes that met his told him that he really wasn't getting off the hook. "Okay, then" he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "One time, I was trying to do this project – it wasn't for class, it was just for me – and it was a dragon, one that could actually fly. By that time, I was asked to tutor her because she was doing really badly in her classes, and... well, because of the little dragon I skipped some of our tutoring sessions, so one day she just barged into my room and caught me. She practically skinned me alive."

Merida could see it, the love he had felt – or _still _felt, for that Astrid, whoever she was. She saw it in the way he chuckled when he said those last words, and in the way his green eyes seemed to be lost somewhere far back in time, remembering her. They had probably built many memories together, and that fact _should not_ be making her sad.

"But when I showed her what I was doing, it seemed to work something in her. She saw the wonders one could create with engineering, and she asked me to teach her, and well..." he smiled. "The rest is history."

"That's so sweet!" Rapunzel awed, lacing her fingers together.

_Yeah, sweet._ Merida's disgruntled mind made her finish off her glass and pour herself a third.

"So what happened when you left?" Jack inquired, and Merida could immediately tell he'd stumbled upon a touchy subject, even without looking at Hiccup's face.

The man in question ran a hand through his hair again, avoiding looking at the other's faces. "That was just – well... I wanted to come back here, to Burgess. To you guys. I really did want to come back home. But she had nothing to do here, no one and nothing to look for in this place, but me. She wanted me to go with her. Said she'd heard of a big company thinking to hire people straight out of college... Wanted us to try it out. But it was so far away, and she was... Well, she was sort of pressuring me" he admitted, biting his lower lip. "And that was the beginning of the end. It just... it didn't work out."

"Oh, boy" Jack gave an understanding nod and offered him another glass of vodka, which Hiccup (recklessly) took.

"I'm so sorry, Hic" Rapunzel put a comforting hand over his shoulder. "Sounds like you really loved her."

"Yeah" he replied succintly, taking a long sip from his drink. He wasn't looking any of them in the face.

Merida didn't say anything, but she saw everything in the way his eyes darkened, and she thoroughly wished for a change of subject. One that hurt less.

"Anyhow!" Jack threw his arms up, stretching. "We ain't here to drown in the past – we're here to have fun! So let's have a toast to lost love, and then play some games!"

"Ahh, finally some good ideas" Merida smiled. She could've kissed him out of utter relief, but of course, she didn't, 'cause that would've been gross. "How about Ah wreck yer arse at Mario Kart?"

"I'm sure as heck gonna end up last on that" Hiccup groaned. "I'm already not seeing straight."

"That's your own fault, for drinking when you're not used to it" Rapunzel replied, taking the halfway drunk glass of vodka off his hands.

"Drunk driving is punished by law, guys" Jack lectured them, turning on the gaming devices.

They played some co-op games, which almost wrecked their friendship over _who the heck threw that red shell_ and _you are ALWAYS taking too much money, you crappy cheating Banker_. Their yelling and arguing soon had them tired, so Rapunzel's suggestion of watching movies instead was met with a general agreement. Merida stuck out her tongue at Jack, while he promised to hold a grudge for her supposedly cheating at Tekken. That made her snort. Jack was just awful at the game, he simply didn't want to admit it.

Him and Rapunzel snuggled together in the couch. Merida settled for the carpet, leaning her back against an armchair. Hiccup took the spot by her side, close to her, but not close enough to make her uncomfortable. She liked that about him. He always knew how to respect people's personal space – mainly because he liked to have his own. She always trusted him because of it.

The movie they had picked – Merida wasn't sure whether it had been Jack or Punzie – was just plain awful. A plot which was supposed to be terrifyingly scary only managed to make her snort at certain times, and grossed out at others. It was also awfully boring – to the point that, when it was ending, Jack and Rapunzel had both fallen asleep, in spite of having been one of them who chose it in the first place.

Merida rolled her eyes and tried to get up to turn the TV off. Only she was held back in her seat by a hand grabbing her arm.

"Hiccup?" she looked back at him inquisitively.

"Merida" he murmured. It was the first time he pronounced her name since he came back. She shouldn't be aware of that fact.

"What is it?" she saw his eyes out of focus, the blush in his cheeks, and the dizzy, slow way he moved. "Hic, yoo're drunk."

She frowned. She _had_ noticed him drinking some vodka from time to time, but she didn't think it'd affect him this much. Apparently, she had over-estimated how much alcohol he could tolerate. He hadn't eaten much, and he'd downed a glass in one shot. It was only normal it'd all amount to this.

She sighed. She wasn't really in the mood to deal with a drunken Hic right now. She had gotten kind of sleepy as well, both because of the movie and because of the ale she'd downed, and the intimacy of the situation was managing to make her nervous.

"Come on, lemme go turn the TV off. Then Ah will wake Jack and Punzie, we'll go home and then ye can go rest."

"No" he murmured. "I don't want you to go yet."

"But it's late" she tried to reason with him. "It's late, we're all sleepy and yoo're drunk."

"I'm not" he retorted, and Merida was surprised his grip on her arm was firm enough to prevent her from freeing herself. He sure had gotten stronger over the years. "Please."

Oh, well. It was no use arguing. With another sigh, she slumped back on her seat over the carpet. "What's wrong, Hic?"

"There's... nothing wrong. I just... wanted you to stay a while" he was leaning over closer to her, as if to lay his head on her shoulder. She fidgeted, feeling the warmth of blood rushing to her cheeks.

Was he an affectionate drunk? Still, Merida knew he wouldn't do anything to make her uncomfortable, he would never be _that_ kind of guy, so she stood still where she was. Perhaps he was just nostalgic from talking about his Astrid.

But he didn't lean over her shoulder, he just looked closely at her red hair, still perfectly tamed and silky. He took a lock of it between his fingers, so delicately – _intimately_. Her heart thumped loudly.

_No. I do not have a crush on this man. I do not – I have never._

"Your hair" he said, finally. "What'd you do to it?"

"Straightened it" she murmured. "I know yoo're not knowledgeable on women's stuff, Hic, but Ah'm pretty sure ye know what a hair straightener is" trying to cover up her feelings with wits and sarcasm was common strategy when it came to Merida.

Of course, when it came to Hiccup, it just wouldn't work. It never had.

"Why'd you do that?" he asked, still softly caressing locks of her hair between his fingers.

"Because it was always gettin' in mah way" she replied, trying her best not to look at how close his drowsy face was, trying her best not to notice how good it felt to have her hair stroked like that, trying her best to ignore the feeling of closeness, of intimacy, of - "Because Ah thought it'd look better like this – because of many reasons. Why?" she retorted. "Ye don't like it?"

"I kinda do" he admitted. "But, Meri" she shivered at her nickname, and what she hated the most was that it wasn't an unpleasant shiver. "I liked your curls. I was always looking at them, you know – sometimes I drew sketches of you, and I would spend so much time detailing your curls..."

She held her breath. She wished he'd stop. But he didn't.

"I would go over every curve of them and I would never get them right. I was... always looking" by now, he was so close she could feel his breath on her skin, and smell the vodka in it. "I always looked at your freckles, at your red lashes, at your nose, at your eyes. At the shape of your brows when you frown."

His fingers moved to her cheek. By the pounding in her chest, she thought she'd have a heart attack. She brought herself to look back at him, and her brows frowned.

"Just like that" he smiled, and she wished she could punch his dumb face – she wished she could push him away and yell at him, for making her so confused, for having a girlfriend when she wasn't around, for leaving, for...

And instead of doing any of that, she felt tears piling up in her eyes.

"Yoo're awful" she said, feebly, in a broken voice. "Ye come back like this, ye make me remember things Ah didn't want to, _feelings_ Ah didn't want – and then come talk to us about yer girlfriend and show me how much ye loved her – after ye _left_, Hic, ye left all of us – ye left _me_" and by then, streams of water were already running down her cheeks.

He listened, dried them with his fingers, caressed her face in the process. And the way he was looking at her – she couldn't stand it. She broke down sobbing. Burying her face in her hands, so she wouldn't see his genuine green eyes anymore. So he couldn't see her pathetic crying face.

She wanted to hate him for making her cry. She wanted to hate him for leaving, for Astrid, for coming back, for making her remember _things_ – she wanted to hate him and yet, the only thing she felt had nothing to do with hate.

Or maybe it had everything to do with it.

"Meri" he whispered, putting his arms around her. "Meri."

"That the only thing ye know how to say?" she whimpered, a sound that was half a snort and half a sob – but she still let him bring her face close so she could lean on his shoulder.

"I want to say so many things" he replied, resting his chin over her head and stroking her hair _again_. "But I – I don't know how to... I just..." he sighed, a deep sigh that seemed to come from the very bottom of his being. "I'm so sorry, Meri."

"Ye better damn well be" she muttered, searching her pockets for a handkerchief to blow her runny nose. She knew how she must be blushing and she was glad he couldn't see.

"Can we... can we talk? Like, when my mind is less... hazy?" he blurted out, rubbing his eyes. "I feel like I'm just going to sprout nonsense if I keep talking..."

"Well" she murmured, lifting her face so she was looking straight at his, in a closeness she never thought she would experiment with him. She _liked_ the "nonsense" he had sprouted so far. "There's... no need to _talk_ any more."

"But there's too many things I want to tell you" he stammered, and it was he who blushed now. What a funny sight they must be at that moment, Merida thought, partially amused, and partially flustered _and_ highly frustrated.

"And Ah will listen" she replied, and dared to lift a hand and touch his face, feeling the stubble of a beard he was growing. "Just – not – not right now."

And the short, unnecessary distance between them closed. As if it were the natural order of things. As if it were only right for them to feel each other this way. As if the pieces finally clicked.

"I wish you hadn't done that to your hair" he said, his voice a low, husky murmur that made her shiver. "I wanted so badly to feel those curls in my hand."

"Yoo're gonnae have plenty of chances" she retorted, and her demanding mouth prevented him from talking any more. He'd have plenty of chances to talk, too.


End file.
